SEOUL-- He didn't have any eye-popping numbers from the plate, but KT Wiz second baseman Park Kyung-su worked some wizardry with his glove to help his club to their first-ever Korean Series championship.
On the strength of some spectacular fielding, Park was voted the Korean Series MVP on Thursday, moments after the Wiz completed a four-game sweep of the Doosan Bears with an 8-4 victory.
Park batted 2-for-8 with a home run and an RBI in the series. He didn't even play in the clinching game. He'd suffered a torn right calf muscle while trying to make a play in Wednesday's Game 3. He was ruled out for six weeks earlier Thursday, but still came to Gocheok Sky Dome to cheer on his teammates on crutches in the dugout.
The 37-year-old was playing in his first Korean Series in his 19th Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season. He looked the part of a Korean Series rookie in Game 1, as he struck out three times.
But Park put a stamp on the series with perhaps the most important defensive play of his career in Game 2.
KT starter So Hyeong-jun walked the game's first two batters, and Jose Miguel Fernandez, the most dangerous Doosan hitter all postseason, was coming to the plate. Fernandez smoked one to the hole on the right side, but Park fully extended himself for a dive to his left and snared the ball.
He fired the ball to second from his knees to start a 4-6-3 double play, one of four the Wiz turned in that game.
The Bears never recovered from wasting that opportunity, and they never even led the entire Korean Series.
Park then made his impact with the bat in Game 3 on Wednesday. He broke the 0-0 tie with a solo home run in the top fifth inning, becoming the fourth oldest player to homer in a Korean Series game.
And his glove shined again later in the same game. The Wiz had just failed to score after loading the bases with nobody out in the top sixth. The Bears had a man at first with one out in the bottom sixth, and Park made a difficult grab on a grounder to his left, and gunned down the speedy lead runner Jung Soo-bin at second base.
Park suffered the unfortunate injury in the eighth, when he landed awkwardly on his right leg after failing to catch a flyball into shallow right field. He stayed down and grabbed his right calf in obvious pain. Tests on Thursday revealed a partially torn muscle, and he would have to miss the rest of the Korean Series.
But Park's influence on the series was such that he didn't even have to play in Game 4 to be named MVP.
"I am beyond happy. I am hoping tonight will never end," Park said. "I think I won this MVP on narrative. I think the entire team deserved this award. Honestly, I wanted to win it but I wasn't sure if I deserved it."
Yoo Han-joon, the elder statesman for the Wiz at age 40, said at Thursday's pregame press conference that he nearly broke down after seeing Park arrive at the stadium on crutches. Yoo said the team would rally around Park and make sure the injured teammate would get to celebrate a title on this very day.
And Park got to do that and much more. Once a fringe player who only blossomed after joining the Wiz in 2015 in an expansion draft, Park can now call himself a Korean Series MVP.
Park said he was mad at himself for getting hurt when he did, with his club trying to win a championship. He also didn't want to put the burden of playing in championship games on someone else.
But his replacement, Shin Bon-ki, homered in Game 4 and made some nice plays at second base himself. Park didn't need to have worried.
"After he hit that home run, he found me in the trainer's room getting my leg iced," Park said. "I was so grateful. He played so well today."
Park's contract with the Wiz expires this year. He said he'd like to keep on playing but he will talk things over with the club during the winter.
"I am not going to insist on hanging around and taking up a spot," Park said. "Hopefully, we'll have positive discussions on this."
Source: Yonhap News Agency